Journalism

Five journalists have been named this year’s Ted Scripps Fellows in Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder, where they will explore topics ranging from small-scale farming to the social ramifications of the oil and gas industry. The nine-month fellowships offer experienced journalists an opportunity to deepen their understanding of environmental issues and policy through coursework, independent projects, seminars and field trips in the region.

There’s something very powerful about seeing six of tons of elephant ivory ground to rubble in a rock crusher, says Gloria Dickie. She and fellow journalism student Caitlin Rockett covered such an event last month. It was part of an effort by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to draw attention to the $10 billion illegal wildlife trade industry and send a message of intolerance to poachers and traffickers.

Greg Bull is used to a fast pace – the 1 a.m. telephone call and the quick trip to the airport; the photo snapped and transmitted so quickly he doesn’t even get to look at it; the mad scramble to the next, much different, assignment. Bull, who graduated from CU-Boulder in 1991 with a degree in journalism and mass communication, is an award-winning Associated Press photojournalist currently based in San Diego.

As early as her second semester at CU-Boulder, Savannah Sellers began to forge her career, not only by being accepted into the journalism program but also by seeking out practical experiences at every turn.

(Photo taken outside of suspect James Holmes' apartment on July 20, 2012, by Beth Bartel/CU News Corps)

Katharina Buchholz awoke to the sound of her phone ringing at 7:30 on a morning last July. When she answered, a fellow student asked her to come to the Armory, where CU’s Journalism & Mass Communication program is headquartered. There had been a mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora.

AIDS is a taboo and terrifying topic in much of the world. So how do you teach people to prevent or treat the disease? Piya Sorcar (’01) has developed a curriculum that has millions of people watching and learning.

When Tom Brokaw wrote his paean to the Greatest Generation, he left them out. Filmmaker Ken Burns skipped them when he documented The War.

They are the estimated 100,000 women who joined the military during World War II. The Navy Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service (WAVES), their Coast Guard counterparts, the SPARS, and the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) provided critical support to the American war effort.

At election time, 17-year-old Anakary Valenzuela of Lafayette, Colo., sits with her grandfather — a man in his mid-60s who emigrated from Mexico decades ago — and pores over a mail-in ballot, providing Spanish translation and discussing the candidates and issues.

“It can take a while if I’m not familiar with an item,” Valenzuela says. “When I get stuck, my grandpa tells me, ‘It’s okay, miha,’ ” which is a Spanish term of endearment meaning little girl.

A group of current and recently graduated CU-Boulder journalism students won a Heartland Emmy award in July for a video they created while working on the CU Science Update video series.

Alumni Jenna Browder, Eric Duggan, Sabina Hadzic, Sara Handing, Amanda Yourick and senior in broadcast production and film studies Greg O’Brien produced the winning episode, called “Pluto—The Un-Planet,” under the direction of journalism instructor Paul Daughtery last fall. The work was part of an advanced-level video editing course.